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“You can see the team starting to bond more and more, and come together more as a unit,” the Zimbabwe allrounder says

Liam Brickhill17-Sep-2019Allrounder Sean Williams sees success in Bangladesh as “extremely important” as Zimbabwe seek a return to normalcy after a chaotic couple of months off the field.Zimbabwe were suspended by the ICC in July, resulting in them missing out on the T20 World Cup Qualifiers in October, as well as losing access to ICC’s funding. The suspension also raised tensions within the squad.”We’ve learnt a lot from what we’ve been through,” Williams said after Zimbabwe’s net session at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram, where they will take on hosts Bangladesh on Wednesday. “You can see the team starting to bond more and more, and come together more as a unit.”Zimbabwe lost their first two matches of the tri-series, going down to a narrow three-wicket defeat to Bangladesh on Friday before they were flattened by a rampant Afghanistan the following night. They have two games left to play, and need to win both if they are to have a realistic chance of reaching the final next Tuesday.”Both games are must-win games for us,” Williams said. “If we do the basic things correctly, that is our fielding, you know there are fine margins in this game, and if we can improve in those areas we stand a good chance of winning both of these games. If we can make better decisions on the field more frequently, I think we have a good chance of pushing through.”On current form, Zimbabwe probably have a better chance of success against the hosts than they do against a buoyant Afghan outfit. With an unwilling captain at the helm and a shake-up to the domestic system serving as a distracting backdrop, Bangladesh are also still reeling from a disappointing World Cup campaign and their recent Test defeat to Afghanistan. But Williams insisted his team-mates won’t be taking Bangladesh lightly.”They’re under pressure, and we know that,” Williams said. “But again, it goes back to us doing the basics [right]. Bangladesh is a very strong team, all around. They’ve got a very good structure, going all the way down to the club levels. T20 cricket can go either way. It’s fine margins.”They’ve got some very good players and some experienced campaigners: Shakib, Mahmudullah, Mushy [Mushfiqur Rahim]. They’re all very good players and we respect that fact. There’s no game we’re ever going to take lightly. We’d just like to go out there, focus on our own things, and do what’s required for our team. If we focus on what we need to do, everything will take care of itself.”Zimbabwe have a fair amount of experience in their own ranks: this is Williams’ seventh trip to Bangladesh with Zimbabwe, and he has also turned out for teams in the Bangladesh Premier League and the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League. Senior batsman Brendan Taylor and captain Hamilton Masakadza are similarly experienced in these conditions. While the seniors have done their part in imparting some of their knowledge, Williams said they needed to play a stronger role on the field.”We give a lot of input to the junior guys. It’s how they take it in. What we do as senior players is important as the backbone of the team, to teach them for the future. There have been a few of us underperforming of late, so we need to step up as a senior group and get the juniors following. They’ve got us out of trouble twice now. If the seniors can step up and do well – Craig [Ervine], myself, Brendan is showing signs of very good form. So if we can step up, we’ll have a very good chance.”Williams himself will lead Zimbabwe on their next assignment, another T20I tri-series featuring Nepal and Singapore, and said he is excited by the talent coming through Zimbabwe’s ranks.”Leading up to the Singapore series, with some younger guys coming to join the squad and a couple of senior guys going across to Singapore, it’s going to be exciting,” he said. “I really look forward to having those junior guys coming through the ranks. They’re already showing signs that some of them could be world-class players. I wish them all the very best, and hopefully, we can watch them go all the way.”

The allrounder, who is set to play his first Test against Australia, is looking forward to complete a set of five-wicket hauls against all nine other Test countries

Mohammad Isam24-Aug-2017Bangladesh’s spin attack is better than Australia’s at home, according to Shakib Al Hasan. He has backed left-arm spinner Taijul Islam and offspinning allrounder Mehidy Hasan, with whom he combined for 38 wickets in the two-Test series against England last year, to deliver against Australia as well.”I think our spin attack is better than theirs,” Shakib said. “Not in all conditions but in Bangladesh, we are better than them. Taijul and Miraz [Mehidy] have been bowling well for some time now. I believe they will do something fantastic in this series.”Shakib is the most experienced spinner in the Bangladesh side with 176 wickets at an average of 33.04. Taijul is two short of 50 wickets while Mehidy has 35 wickets in seven Tests.The tourists also have an experienced spinner in Nathan Lyon, who will be supported by two rookies – left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, who has played only two Tests so far, and legspinner Mitchell Swepson, who is uncapped in international cricket. Agar, set to play his first Test in more than four years, is likely to partner Lyon in the first Test ahead of Swepson.With the pitches in Bangladesh becoming more responsive to spin now, and more quality spinners coming through the ranks, Shakib feels his workload has lessened. He may not have to bowl as many overs as he used to get wickets.”Taijul and Miraz are bowling well. Spinners like Raj [Abdur Razzak] and [Mohammad] Rafique were around in my early days,” Shakib said. “But there weren’t pitches that helped wicket-taking, because we didn’t really think about winning Test matches. Since now we are focused on winning, the pitches have also become more helpful for spinners.”Shakib, who is set to play his first Test against Australia, is looking forward to complete a set of five-wicket hauls against all nine other Test countries. He would become the fourth player after Muttiah Muralitharan, Dale Steyn, and Rangana Herath to achieve the feat.”I have that in mind. I have four innings to do it so let’s see, Shakib said. “It is more important to contribute, so if someone else takes a five-wicket haul it is good for the team. Taking wickets isn’t really up to me.”There are times when I don’t get a single wicket despite bowling very well. And then there are times when I got wickets by not bowling well. Bowling [in] partnerships is also essential, so we have to keep that in mind too.”

Despite suffering a crushing three-day defeat in Hobart, West Indies captain Jason Holder said he was upbeat about his team’s future, suggesting they were just “one good day away from a turnaround”

Brydon Coverdale24-Dec-2015Jason Holder looks, acts and speaks like a captain. He is thoughtful about the game, firm in his own opinions, and speaks his mind. He is only 24, but he pulls his players into line when necessary. He also has the potential to be the most important player in the West Indies line-up: he has played only 11 Tests, but already has a Test century and two fifties to his name, and offers consistency with the ball if not bags of wickets.

Holder calls for patience with Chandrika

Jason Holder has said opener Rajendra Chandrika must be given some time to find his way in international cricket, despite making three ducks from his first four Test innings. Chandrika has only one first-class hundred to his name, scored against Windward Islands last month, but the selectors view his game as adequate for the elite level.
Chandrika made a pair on Test debut against Australia in Jamaica in June and managed 25 and 0 in the first Test of this series in Hobart. But the other opening option in the squad, Shai Hope, batted at No.8 in the tour match in Geelong at the weekend, and Holder said it was important for the selectors to back Chandrika.
“Rajendra is the specialist opener,” Holder said. “If you look at the rest of the batsmen, they’re middle-order batsmen. Shai has opened in the past but I don’t think he’s a specialist opener. I think we have to give Chandrika some time to get into what he’s doing and we’ll see how he goes in the next couple of Test matches.”

But it is a hard road ahead for Holder, who so far has captained his team in three Tests for three losses. In those matches, he himself has taken just three wickets at 47.33 and scored 97 runs at 16.16. But those Tests have all been away from home in challenging conditions, in Sri Lanka and then Hobart. There had been glimpses of promise from his team during those Tests, but the challenge is to create more than just glimpses.”It’s not a burden, I’m enjoying the challenge,” Holder said of the captaincy, ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. “It’ll take time before we get the results we’re looking for. We need to build and keep building. We need to put something on the table that we can build on. At the present time we’ve been fluctuating with a good performance here and then a bad performance there.”It’s never been something that we can just make a steady progression forward with. That’s the main thing for me. We need to understand the position we’re in. We have a very young side, very inexperienced, and we have some guys that we need to build a core of players around. Once we understand that it’s easier to move forward.”The three-day defeat in Hobart could have the potential to crush the confidence of the young West Indies side, but Darren Bravo’s first-innings 108 and Kraigg Brathwaite’s 94 in the second innings showed that their batsmen are capable of troubling Australia’s bowlers. Putting it all together in one performance is the task for Holder and his men.”For me personally I’m always upbeat,” Holder said. “I think we’re just one good performance from turning things around. That’s the way we have to look at it. We can’t be negative all the time, we just have to find ways to pick ourselves up. We’re just one good day from a turnaround and that’s the way I’m taking it going forward.”While the lack of batting support for Bravo and Brathwaite in Hobart was a major issue, the lack of incision from the bowling attack after the first session of the Test – in which they claimed three wickets – set the tone for the match. Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach in particular are experienced fast men with the skills and pace to do some damage in the Australian conditions, but nobody was able to stop the 449-run partnership between Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh.”I wouldn’t say we let them off the hook,” Holder said. “I thought we bowled reasonably well to Shaun Marsh up front but Voges was scoring pretty freely at the other end and that took a lot of pressure off of him. If we could be a lot more disciplined when we get new batsmen to the crease, especially those kinds of positions, then we’d be a lot better off. We have to be a lot more disciplined than we were in that first Test match.”We had a bad game. If you look at our performances for the last couple of months our bowlers have been pulling us through. They’ve been bowling well up to that point. All throughout in the Caribbean we played Australia and England, then we went to Sri Lanka and they did really well there as well. I just put it down hopefully to one bad Test match and hopefully we can pull our socks up.”While legspinner Devendra Bishoo might come into contention at the MCG after Jomel Warrican was used in Hobart, one forced change will be made to the pace attack after Shannon Gabriel flew home with an ankle injury. Allrounder Carlos Brathwaite is favoured to make his Test debut ahead of fast bowler Miguel Cummins, who only joined the squad as a replacement for Gabriel.”We’ve got to look at everything,” Holder said. “Carlos is an allrounder, Miguel is just an out-and-out fast bowler. Carlos has been in the squad for a little while now and he’s waiting for his opportunity, so he’s pretty much front line to go ahead of Miguel. But we’ll see how the conditions are tomorrow.”

A day after USA wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson questioned the motivation of his team-mates, they turned in a strong performance to bundle Jersey for 87 for their first win of the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jul-2015File photo – Akeem Dodson struck a run-a-ball 31 after effecting a record six dismissals behind the wicket•Peter Della Penna

A day after wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson questioned the motivation of the USA players, they turned in a strong performance to bundle Jersey for 87 for their first win of the tournament in Bready. Dodson himself set an example, effecting six dismissals behind the wicket, a record for any T20 involving international teams.The win, however, was set up by left-arm pacer Naseer Jamali and right-arm pacer Hammad Shahid who picked up three wickets each. Jamali punched the early holes, reducing Jersey to 36 for 4 in 6.1 overs before Shahid dismantled the middle order. Timil Patil then wrapped up the tail as Jersey folded for 87 inside 18 overs. Besides Anthony Kay and Charles Perchard who made identical scores of 18 off 17 balls, Ben Stevens was the only other batsman to manage double-figures.Fahad Babar and Dodson added 60 for the opening partnership to give USA a bright start in their chase. However, the wicket of Dodson sparked a wobble as USA lost four wickets in a space of 10 runs and two overs. Nicholas Standford then became Nat Watkins’ third victim but the Patels – Mrunal and Timil – got their side over the line with 26 balls to spare.

Trent Copeland, the Australia seamer, will return to boost Northamptonshire’s hopes of achieving promotion

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2013Trent Copeland, the Australia seamer, will return to boost Northamptonshire’s hopes of achieving promotion. Copeland was initially signed for the first half of the season, claiming 36 Championship wickets in seven games, and he will now return for Northants’ final three fixtures.Copeland returned to Sydney in June with Northants unbeaten and top of the table, having averaged 49.3 with the bat and 16.25 with the ball. Since then, the club have drawn once and lost twice to Lancashire, who have also overtaken them as Division Two leaders.In all competitions Copeland claimed 50 wickets but he was replaced for the FLt20 by Australia allrounder Cameron White and South Africa opener Richard Levi. Northamptonshire’s head coach, David Ripley, had previously indicated they might try to re-sign the tall fast bowler, who has played three Tests for Australia.”This news will give everybody involved with Northants a lift,” Ripley said. “Trent made an outstanding contribution in his first stint with us, both on and off the field, we look forward to welcoming both him and his wife Kim back to the County Ground.”Northamptonshire currently lie second in Division Two, a point behind Lancashire having played a game more than the teams around them. With six fixtures left, they are 38 points clear of Worcestershire in the race for automatic promotion.

While captain Misbah-ul-Haq was happy Pakistan managed to get off to a winning start in the three-match ODI series against India, he believes the team still has a lot to work on, especially in the field

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Dec-2012While captain Misbah-ul-Haq was happy Pakistan managed to get off to a winning start in the three-match ODI series against India, he believes the team still has a lot to work on, especially in the field. Pakistan, he said, were fortunate to walk away with the six-wicket win in Chennai.”Today we were lucky, India gave us a tough time in this situation. They lost five wickets early but still went on to make 227,” Misbah was quoted as saying by . “To win the next match, we will have to work hard and improve a fair bit. We have to really improve our fielding, and our death-over and Powerplay bowling. After these [changes to the] ODI rules especially, we have to improve the bowling.”Also, we have to improve our batting performances; we couldn’t chase the target down easily.”While Pakistan’s victory-margin was ultimately comfortable, they lost a wicket off the first ball of their innings when Mohammad Hafeez shouldered arms to a Bhuvneshwar Kumar inswinger. From there on, it was slow and edgy progress for Pakistan, who were 21 for 2 in the 11th over when Azhar Ali lobbed a catch to midwicket. Opener Nasir Jamshed was firm though, batting through the innings for 101 not out, and Younis Khan was relatively positive for his 58, ensuring victory.The hosts’ top order too had struggled in this, one of the rare day ODIs in India. Junaid Khan had India reeling with a remarkable spell of swing bowling, in which he bowled Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh in the space of eight balls.Both Misbah and India captain MS Dhoni said that while it was outstanding bowling, the toss too was important. “It was a good toss to win, but it was an excellent spell by Junaid. There was something for the bowlers but of you don’t bowl in the right areas when the ball is seaming, you don’t get results,” Misbah said. Dhoni agreed: “I think it was the toss to start with. After that they bowled well. When the ball is seaming or swinging, if you pitch it in the right areas it works.”If you see their bowlers, they bowled up which was good. Generally on these kind of wickets there will be temptation to bowl short because there will be bounce and carry, but they made sure they bowled up and left the batsmen in trouble.”With India tottering at 29 for 5 in the 10th, Suresh Raina and Dhoni began the rebuilding, adding 73 runs. Raina was out short of a half-century but Dhoni, in extremely humid conditions, paced his innings and finished unbeaten. He was 34 off 78 balls without a boundary, got to 50 off 86 and was battling dehydration when he launched, finishing with 113 off 125. The innings won him the Man of the Match award ahead of Jamshed.Misbah had high praise for Dhoni: “At one stage, it looked as if India would be getting out for 125 but Dhoni’s was a brilliant innings. It was more difficult to play in the first half. There was lot of moisture but very well played by Dhoni. He single-handedly took the game away from us, but in the end Nasir too played an extremely good knock.”Dhoni said he would have preferred to have India’s top order clicking: “Overall quite happy that I got a century. But going down the order, batting at six or seven, and if you get a 100 … actually you don’t want an opportunity like that because you want your top order to perform.”One of the big concerns for India was the fitness of Kohli, whose ankle gave way under him while he was bowling, resulting in him over-extending his knee. Dhoni said the team would know the details of the injury in “some time”. Later, a BCCI release confirmed that while an MRI scan revealed no serious damage, whether Kohli will play the next ODI – on January 3 in Kolkata – is yet to be determined. “All his major ligaments are fine. There is minimal injury fluid in his knee,” the release said. “His condition will be monitored, and a decision on whether he will play the second ODI will be taken over the next couple of days.”

Former Sri Lanka batsman Chandika Hathurusingha says he enjoying his new role as the acting head coach of the Australian state side New South Wales

Sa'adi Thawfeeq24-Dec-2012Former Sri Lanka batsman Chandika Hathurusingha, who played 26 Tests and 35 ODIs, is pleased to be fulfilling his new role as the acting head coach of the Australian state side New South Wales (NSW).”It came as a surprise, but it was recognition of my contribution to the NSW team since I became their assistant coach in September last year,” Hathurusingha said. He took over for the rest of the current Australian season following the sacking of Anthony Stuart, who had been coach of the state since May 2011.”It was not the ideal situation for me because I cannot do things my way as it is in the middle of the season, but nevertheless I am honoured,” he said.NSW is the among the most successful domestic cricket teams in Australia, with a rich history of many players having represented the national team. The present side includes Australia captain Michael Clarke, his deputy Shane Watson, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Brad Haddin, Doug Bollinger, Trent Copeland, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Moises Henriques, Steve Smith and state captain Stephen O’Keefe – all of whom have represented Australia at some point in their careers.”It is a matter of prestige for a Sri Lankan to be coaching such a side. I enjoy working with them,” Hathurusingha said.Hathurusingha, whose CV includes being coach of Canada and the UAE, had at one point been thought of as a replacement for former head coach Trevor Bayliss, but he doesn’t mind his current position.”I was technical advisor to the NSW team (Sydney Sixes) during the Champions League in South Africa and when Trevor Bayliss went over to Kolkata Knight Riders, I more or less took over his position and we went on to become champions,” Hathurusingha said. “Even if I don’t get the job as head coach I am not worried. I am quite happy with my current position as assistant coach.”He said his chances of becoming the permanent head coach of NSW depended on the team’s performances this season. They are already out of the Ryobi one-day competition and are currently lying fourth in the Sheffield Shield table.”Many of our players are called up to play for Australia and this has affected our team performances,” he said. “My job is to help them achieve their goal of playing for Australia and also to develop players from the state to go and represent the country. I am not only helping the [batsmen] but even the bowlers. The feedback from them has been very encouraging. All of them are aspiring to play for Australia and I am delighted to be of help.”These players know how to take care of themselves individually. They are independent and once they are told something they go ahead and do it. That comes from their culture. In Sri Lanka, some of the players need to be pushed.”Hathurusingha was sacked by the previous Sri Lanka Cricket administration under DS de Silva as he had not obeyed the chairman’s orders not to return early from a tour of Zimbabwe to follow a coaching course in Australia in 2011. He left for Australia with his family and took on the job as assistant coach of NSW.”My sacking turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I was disappointed the way I was asked to go. I would have loved to have coached my country but unfortunately the administrators at that time did not see it that way.”

The ICC have extended the deadlines for naming World Twenty20 squads, although the chances of Kevin Pietersen being included for England remain very slim

Andrew McGlashan16-Aug-2012The ICC has extended the deadline for naming the World Twenty20 squads, although the chances of Kevin Pietersen being included for England remain very slim.The original deadline was Saturday but boards have now been given until August 24 to submit their 15-man lists for the tournament which begins on September 18, after the ICC received requests “from several of its members”.It is understood that the ECB was one of the boards who asked about the possibility of an extension with the ICC but that was to avoid a clash with the final Test against South Africa which starts on Thursday. The ECB was also believed to be happy to abide by the Saturday deadline if required.Sri Lanka, who are currently in the midst of the SLPL, are another country who requested an extension as their domestic Twenty20 tournament will help determine selection for the World Twenty20.It is now expected that England will name their squad on Tuesday, following the conclusion of the Test series, although the party, it is believed, was decided during a selection meeting at Edgbaston last week.Although Pietersen offered an apology to the ECB on Tuesday night for what he termed ‘provocative’ text messages to South African players it was met by a cool response from the management and Andrew Strauss. His apology followed the YouTube video on Saturday night when he made himself available for all international cricket having previously retired from limited-overs cricket which led to him being unavailable for Twenty20.”The truth is a lot has happened over the last seven days,” Strauss said. “The England team has been in the news for the wrong reasons. We all want to move forward but there are some underlying issues on trust and respect that don’t get dealt with over night and it’s going to take quite a long time to overcome those.”Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, said lots of negotiations remained. “We are in receipt of Kevin’s apology, but further discussions need to take place to establish whether it is possible to regain the trust and mutual respect required to ensure all parties are able to focus on playing cricket and to maintain the unity of purpose that has served us so well in recent years.”Five countries – Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Bangladesh – have already named their squads for the World Twenty20.

Bangladesh’s bowlers led them to an easy six-wicket win over Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy in the first game of the Bangladesh Cricket Board Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2011
ScorecardBangladesh romped to a six-wicket victory over an overmatched Bangladesh Cricket Board Academy (BCBA) at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Having put BCBA into bat, opening bowlers Rubel Hossein and Shafiul Islam struck early and often to reduce their opponents to 30 for 4 in just the seventh over. Left-arm spinner Suhrawadi Shuvo then got into the act, taking three wickets in four balls as the lower order offered no resistance whatsoever. Rubel then returned to claim the last two wickets to finish with figures of 4 for 22 while Shuvo ended up with figures of 3 for 10. The last four batsmen all made ducks. In total, there were eight scores of four or less, with five zeros. Tanveer Haider topscored for Academy with an unbeaten 24.Tamim Iqbal wasted no time chasing down the meagre target of 76, smashing five fours and a six in a quickfire 36 from 37 balls. There was a bit of a hiccup as Bangladesh lost three wickets with the score on 54. Tamim was bowled by Alauddin Babu before Shahriar Nafees was bowled by Sohag Gazi and Shuvagato Hom was runout for a duck, but Alok Kapali calmed any nerves with a run-a-ball 22 as Bangladesh wrapped up the game with 31 overs to spare.

Madhya Pradesh have handed over the initiative to Karnataka with generosity that is in keeping with the spirit of the holiday season

Nitin Sundar25-Dec-2010Karnataka hold the aces in their quarter-final clash against Madhya Pradesh. It would, however, be more appropriate to say that the hosts have handed over the initiative with generosity that is in keeping with the spirit of the holiday season. Despite MP’s well-documented resurgence, this fixture was always expected to be a mismatch. Ironically for MP, it has so far proved to be a complete reversal from their Plate League days when a weak bowling attack often left their batsmen with too much to do. In Indore, it was the batsmen who let the team down on the first day; the bowlers put in a big effort on the second, but fielding lapses allowed Karnataka to move ahead, despite being well short of their best.Sanath Kumar, the Karnataka coach, minced no words when asked to describe his side’s effort on the second day, when five batsmen perished for scores between 29 and 49. “Absolutely bad batting,” was his succinct summation. “We could have easily been 320 for 4. Instead we find ourselves at 306 for 8, since our batsmen kept throwing away their starts. The last five overs [when Jalaj Saxena picked up three cheap wickets] were pathetic.”It seemed like a harsh evaluation. After all, his side had pushed the lead to three figures, with two wickets in hand, on a pitch where the bowlers had skittled MP out for 200 on the opening day. “The batsmen were finding it difficult since the ball was not coming on to the bat,” he conceded. “But that can be no excuse.”Of the lot, only Amit Verma managed to push ahead after getting used to the slow conditions. His stroke-filled 85 was the cornerstone of Karnataka’s lead, but it was an innings that underlined the kind of season he has had. He is currently fifth in the run-charts, with six half-centuries – the highest by any batsmen in the tournament – and just one ton. While players like S Badrinath and Wasim Jaffer have ensured their fifties yielded big hundreds, Verma has succumbed to carelessness too often. Sanath was left wondering how much more he could have accomplished with better application.”Amit is not getting the big runs,” Sanath said. “Too many 70s and 80s before throwing the wicket away. I have been speaking to him about it, and gave him a piece of my mind today as well. He should keep improving and not settle for half-centuries.”Sanath reserved his words of praise for the opposition’s bowlers, who showed tremendous heart all day. “To be honest, they bowled really well, and to their fields,” he said. “If they had held on to their catches, we would have been in a much worse situation.”It was a sentiment shared by Sanath’s opposite number, MP coach Mukesh Sahni. “Our bowlers tried very hard, Jalaj Saxena in particular. It has been a bad couple of days for us, and it has nothing to do with the talent in the side. It is just the mental aspect. (Yesterday, the youngsters played too many shots),” he reflected ruefully. “Once the batting fails, it becomes imperative to hold on to the half-chances, but things went wrong right from the first evening [when Mohnish Mishra dropped Robin Uthappa].”It is, however, crucial to remain positive. We hope to have them chasing a tricky target on the final day. The plan is to get the last two wickets early and then bat positively. There is no need to play too many shots – normal, positive batting will do the trick.”Devendra Bundela, the MP captain, was even more bullish about his side’s chances. “The game is 60-40 right now in their favour,” he said. “We have nothing to lose and we will give it our best. We will look to restrict the lead to around 120 and bat positively tomorrow. The opening partnership will be crucial. I hope to set a target of around 220 and go for the outright win.”His parting shot will leave the Karnataka camp a touch concerned. “It is a knockout game. There will be pressure on the fourth day if you are chasing a target, even if it is not very big,” he said. It is a pressure Karnataka know only too well after their heartbreak in last year’s final. It is a situation they won’t want to find themselves in, against this spirited MP unit that is eager to make amends for its lapses.